The Dan W. Olds Computer Science Departmental Award

We are grateful to The Dan Olds Family for endowing The Dan W. Olds Computer Science Departmental Award in honor of Dan, the first Chair of the Computer Science Department at Wofford.

Excerpts from remarks by Dr. Joe Sloan at the first presentation of the Award on Honor's Day, 2007

"If you will indulge me, I’d like to begin my remarks on a personal note. I first came to Wofford as a freshman in 1968. That fall, I took what I believe was the first course Wofford ever offered in computer science. This was an informal, non-credit course in the BASIC programming language that ran for several weeks. It was taught by chairman of the Physics Department, Dan Olds, and used the GE timesharing system via teletype, a system he was responsible for bringing to Wofford. In 1975, after several years in industry, I returned to Wofford as a part-time, second degree student and took what I believe was the first for-credit course Wofford offered in computer science. This was also taught by Dan Olds using a DEC system that he administered. Several years later, I went on to graduate school to Dan Olds’ alma mater, thanks in part to a letter of recommendation written by Dan Olds.

"After being away for almost a quarter of a century, I returned to Wofford a few years ago as a faculty member in the Computer Science Department, a department initiated and first chaired by Dan Olds before he went on to become Director of Information Technology for the College. I now find myself representing that Department for the first time on this stage. It should come as no surprise that it gives me great pleasure to name the first recipient of the newly created Dan W. Olds Computer Science Departmental Award.

"I’m not really sure what I’ll be doing ten years from now in computer science. But I suspect that Dan will have been there before me. And while I’ll bumble along as a student, Dan will have been the teacher––teaching first himself and then the rest of us."

Dan W. Olds Computer Science Departmental Award Recipients

2016

Lykes Claytor is pursuing a master's degree in computer science at Virginia Tech.

2015

Alissa Williams, a double major in computer science and biology, is pursuing a doctorate in cell and molecular biology at Colorado State University.

2014

Caroline Odell, a double major in computer science and mathematics, is pursuing a master's degree in computer science at Wake Forest University.

2013

Andrew Strasburger, a double major in computer science and physics, has accepted a software developer position at Unitrends in Columbia, SC.

2012

Whitney Sanders, a double major in computer science and mathematics, is pursuing a master's degree in computer science at Carnegie Mellon University.

2011

Tahir Motiwala, a double major in computer science and biology with an Emphasis in Computational Science, is attending medical school at Medical University of South Carolina.

2010

Manan Gupta, a double major in computer science and chemistry with an Emphasis in Computational Science, received a Master's degree in computer science from Clemson University and works for a company in Northern California.

2009

Shay Ellison, a computer science major with minors in mathematics and history, has completed graduate studies in computer science at Florida State University.

2008

Paul Wood, a double major in computer science and Chinese, is in China working in the computer gaming and mobile app development.

2007

Heidi Bostic, first recipient of The Dan W. Olds Computer Science Departmental Award and double major in chemistry and computer science, has completed a Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Tennessee and Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Wofford.